Ten (Law Is King)

Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. - Romans 3:19 ESV


If you had a projector
Connected to my head and my chest
It would showcase nothing but an independent festival of darkness
Bleak thoughts to match a black heart
Every matinee selling out to the sinful desires of my humanity
You know Kierkegaard was right;
You’d be shocked and amazed at what a sane man
Dreams about doing in the broad daylight

And if accountability of consequence
Lifts even for a second
The fantasy becomes reality…
What masters of debauchery we are
Nightmare walking…
Psychopath, stalkin’…
A Gorilla in the mist
Notorious for poppin’ off with my two lips…
With two fists up

Because I consider every punch I throw
To be therapeutic or medicinal
Because if there is no God
Then everything is permissible to us
It all boils down to dust
Knocking the rusty latch off of reason, then
Now it’s like someone opened up a floodgate
And in a blind fit of rage
Recklessly misplaced a wooden stake –

I’ve got 2x4’s disguised
As splinters stuck in my eyes
Violence begets a nihilist
And now the nihilist wants to get violent
Because he’s somebody’s child
The only problem is
That we were separated at birth
And I’ve been raised in the wild –
Exploiting my desertedness
Using it as ammunition to lash out at a “negligent parent”
Resolved even more now to respond
Solely to the vibrations of my own larynx

I’m a rebel whose primary cause
Is to be an embarrassment to my inheritance
I don’t want a share…I want it all
And now I’ve got it; A bunch of empty wallets
In a clenched fist of covetousness
So there’s a rumble coming from deep within the jungle
Because my Father’s given the order to give chase
“LEX REX” on my chest branded with ten phrases
Serve as a valuable reminder
Lay down my arms and wait for grace
Or just keep running, only to die tired


For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.” Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.” But the law is not of faith, rather “The one who does them shall live by them.” Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”—so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith. - Galatians 3:10-14 ESV


Soli Deo Gloria,
Shon

Zeros & Ones: Sermon on The Mount (Pt. 1) - Broke, Broken, Soft-Spoken, and Easy-Goin'

We begin our latest study on the "Sermon on the Mount". We take an in-depth look at the words of Jesus as he lays out principles of the Kingdom of Heaven, and what it really looks like to be a lover of God and our fellow man. We begin with the counter-cultural notion of the word, "Blessed". In a day and age where the prosperity, health and wealth, word of faith "gospel" is so readily embraced, we see with great illumination from the Scripture how our Lord turns the idea on its head...

 

Soli Deo Gloria,

Shon

Posted via email from THE CENTER (ROOM 116)

Heaven Underground

"For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, because they formerly did not obey, when God's patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water." - 1 Peter 3:18-20 ESV

"For this is why the gospel was preached even to those who are dead, that though judged in the flesh the way people are, they might live in the spirit the way God does." - 1 Peter 4:6 ESV

 

Heaven didn’t just come down… 

It went underground 

We couldn’t go and get it 

It had to come and get us 

Because we were held hostage 

In the darkness…slaves to the dust 

A bunch of guilty as charged 

Criminals at large 

Conspiring since the beginning 

To assassinate God 

And if you find that statement offensive 

It’s understandable 

But you still have no defense against it  

And you know it –  

Your fingerprints are showin’ 

And herein lies the biggest problem 

Because even if you’re Robin Hood
You’re still a thief –
Because you’re robbin’
No sob story is good enough
To regain that trust
Our red-handed antics
Have left us stone cold busted

And in case you couldn’t tell
We’re disgusted with the outcome
But too prideful and bitter to ask for help
So we put our roots down firm
And build ziggurats wherever we dwell

But how we gonna reach the Kingdom
When we don’t even speak the same language amongst ourselves?
And when our stairway to Heaven was vanquished
It all came crashing down in an epic fail…

The most frightening attribute of God’s character
Is that He is good and a Just Judge
So He will always rule in favor of righteousness
Not based on what I think I am
Or who I thought I was

Truth is…
I’m a lying, cheating
Backsliding heathen
Full of murderous intent
And I’m stealing by just breathing
With no plan to give up the lifestyle
Anytime soon
So the mercy of the Court
Will have to be way more than prevenient
Because I’m already doomed…

Therefore grace has to intrude
As the Kingdom manifests the expanse
Of its territorial boundary
To dig us up out of our whitewashed tombs
And shut down all of the foundries
‘Cause the Devil’s melting down the metal
Turning plows and pruning hooks into swords

But the Kingdom of Heaven came among us
To suffer the violence
So Death can never have the Final Word


"From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force."  - Matthew 11:12 ESV

Soli Deo Gloria,
Shon

Posted via email from THE CENTER (ROOM 116)

Ground Zero: Modern "Evangelism" v. The Gospel

Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.  - (Jude 1:3-4 ESV)




(cf. Judges 21:25; Luke 3:9; 2 Timothy 4:3; 1 John 2:19; Revelation 14:13)


Soli Deo Gloria,
Shon

Posted via email from THE CENTER (ROOM 116)

Last Shot

If I say, “I will not mention him, or speak any more in his name,” there is in my heart as it were a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot.
- Jeremiah 20:9 ESV

2012 is the year of the Dragon

So it’s like fire in my bones

And I’m about to let it go

Truth so hot

That it’s got your boy spittin’ flames

And let the Word of God

Get “@you” like a Twitter name

I wasn’t tailored to snatch the mic

Swiftly like ‘Ye did

I’m bangin’ out life sentences

Like a Rikers bid

So follow me to be freed

From your life of crime

Catch it if you can

Before you’re out of time

 

He took me from sin-sick

And made me even ill-er

Went from a stone cold murderer

To a natural born killer

Gave me a clean heart

With a dangerous mind

And a Canon full of bullets

To put in every line

Pumpin’ hot 16’s into my voice stream

Hit everything within earshot – never missin’

Take your crooked lines, pull the trigger

Time to lay ‘em straight

Just like your heartbeat…

‘Cause it's death today

 

Taking aim on dead men

Like it’s the Walking Dead

But they need shots to the heart

Not holes in the head

Minds darkened;

Kick-started from the brain stem

Couldn’t find their way out with a flashlight

(Or even two of ‘em)

So I light 'em up in the chest

‘Cause their vests are defective

Self-righteous pride can’t save you

From the heat that I’m packin’

And if you pull your piece

Then peace be still and just let it happen

I’ll be at peace with my Maker

When that choppers’s clappin’

 

So let me clear my throat

And speak a little louder

‘Cause I don’t think you can hear me

Over all of that firepower

Lord, make my narrow straight

And may my shots stay true

He’s got you in the Cross…

And God is still good

For if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. For necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!
- 1 Corinthians 9:16 ESV

Soli Deo Gloria,
Shon

Posted via email from THE CENTER (ROOM 116)

Mastodon

What I’m about to endeavor

Could potentially be bad for my health…

But man, it‘s like,  "whatever"

Just chalk it up to me

Carving out a niche for myself -

My life's been pulled off of the shelf

And know that

Once my feet start moving forward

There will be no swaying

To the right or to the left

I’m a hard charging moving target

Getting up close and personal

Like a mastodon coming at you

With adamantium in his vertebras

The Truth is closer than it appears

And the mirror exposes fears

So I smashed out the rear view

And haven’t looked back in years

Told my peers not to mourn

The old way is gone and forgotten

The Sun has risen over a brand new day

Now it’ll take a lot more than Hell to stop me...

 

(cf. Matthew 11:12, 16:18; Acts 5:33-42)

 

Soli Deo Gloria,

Shon

 

Posted via email from THE CENTER (ROOM 116)